Success
Stories! Amazing
tales of survival, recovery, and medical triumphsClick here for the Success Stories Archive Charlie Brown, Super DogOur 11 year old Basset, Charlie Brown, was diagnosed in April 1999 with renal kidney failure. We took him to VetSmart after 2 days of not eating (we thought he swallowed another sock), and was told things were not looking to good for him. After 3 days there, he was ready to come home, he was in a good mood, and wanted nothing more than his regular dog food, and his spot on the couch. We had to learn to give him subcutaneous fluids, and change his diet (he's a very picky eater). His kidney values remained at highly acceptable levels, with very few problems. With this, we were comfortable in leaving him with our best friends while we spent 5 days at the beach in July. On the 4th day our friends call to tell us Charlie Brown is at VetSmart, he had been lethargic, and again would not eat....we talked to the doctor (same one that has helped Charlie the whole time), and she needed to run tests, and told us to call the next day. The next day we were devastated to learn his spleen was over twice its normal size, and the cause was cancer. We had to decide immediately if we wanted to have surgery, or let him go! This was a very difficult choice! With his kidney problems, and age, he had a very low chance of surviving surgery....but we knew we had to try anything we could! He went into surgery 2 days later, they removed his spleen, and a tiny piece of his liver (cancer was found there too). Not only did he make it through surgery, he pulled his urine tube out 2 hours later, and insisted on going outside! I know he's stubborn, but the people at VetSmart have saved his life. His doctor performed the surgery on her day off, one of his nurses came in to help on his day off, and another nurse brought her dog in case Charlie Brown needed blood. I know their caring (not just medical) gave him the extra encouragement he needed to pull through. There's not a lot of people out there that would do what the VetSmart employees have done for us. Charlie Brown is doing great, we still give him fluids, his kidney levels are fine, and his blood count is perfect. Charlie's new name at VetSmart is "SUPER DOG"! :)
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